Still, waiting for your parsley to leaf out or the basil to get big enough to eat? Extend your season of flavors with a micro herb garden. Microgreens are simply herbs grown from seed and harvested when they are about 2 inches tall. Tiny little plants packed with flavor. I like to have trays of microgreens, especially in the off-season, when I can’t go outside and harvest fresh from the garden.

Microgreen Tips
• Seeds germinate best when the soil is kept consistently warm-about about 65 to 70 degrees F. Seedling heat mats are handy to help with this.
• Once the seeds germinate, your baby plants will need light to grow healthy, flavorful leaves.
• Use a small lamp with a grow light bulb to add additional lighting. I have a small set up on my counter with a heat mat and desk lamp with a grow light bulb in the lamp.
To grow:
Fill a shallow tray ( I use small plant flats) with two inches of lightweight soilless seed mix. Sprinkle seed evenly over the tray filling all the space. It doesn’t have to be perfect; you just don’t want the seed to be clumped up in one spot.
Lightly press the surface with your fingertips to make sure the seeds contact with the soil.Small seeds do not need to be covered with soil. Large seeds the size of sunflowers or peas need to be covered with a thin layer of soil.
Water gently with a spray mister bottle. Do not pour water directly over the tray to avoid disturbing the seeds. Keep the soil consistently moist and never let the trays dry out. To help retain moisture, cover with clear plastic wrap (or one of the domes that come with seed starting kits). Keep warm with a seedling heat mat. Once you seed the seedlings emerge, remove the cover and give additional lighting over the trays. Once the seeds are up and growing leaves, I turn off the heat mat.

Harvest microgreens when the cotyledons (the first leaves that appear from the seed) have fully developed, and you begin to see the first true leaves emerge. Most microgreens will be about 2 inches tall. Cut the greens off at the soil level and give them a light rinse before eating.

]]>https://herbloversgarden.com/2020/04/17/herbal-microgreens/feed/0microgreenscreativegardenermicrogreen soil low resParlsey microgreens low resPollinator Pocket Garden with Herbshttps://herbloversgarden.com/2020/04/10/pollinator-pocket-herb-garden/
https://herbloversgarden.com/2020/04/10/pollinator-pocket-herb-garden/#respondFri, 10 Apr 2020 13:44:59 +0000http://herbloversgarden.com/?p=1188Design your Pollinator Pocket Garden. Bees, butterflies, hummingbirds. gather in the herb garden! Click for a full-size PDF and let’s grow beauty in the garden
]]>https://herbloversgarden.com/2020/04/10/pollinator-pocket-herb-garden/feed/0Pollinator attracting herb journal page lrcreativegardenerBUtterflyGbutterflyechinaceaname editHerb Garden Plannerhttps://herbloversgarden.com/2020/04/04/herb-garden-planner/
https://herbloversgarden.com/2020/04/04/herb-garden-planner/#respondSat, 04 Apr 2020 18:11:26 +0000http://herbloversgarden.com/?p=1172How does your herb garden grow? Here’s a page for your garden journal! Download the PDF here Herb Garden Planner
]]>https://herbloversgarden.com/2020/04/04/herb-garden-planner/feed/0Herb Garden Planner suegoetz dotcomcreativegardenerSweet and Noble Bayhttps://herbloversgarden.com/2020/04/01/sweet-and-noble-bay/
https://herbloversgarden.com/2020/04/01/sweet-and-noble-bay/#respondWed, 01 Apr 2020 15:02:22 +0000http://herbloversgarden.com/?p=1164When I was little, I was fascinated by the small dried jars of spices in the kitchen cabinet. One jar wasn’t marked but had long leaves that were not crumbled and broken like most of the other jars. My mom would throw one of the leaves into spaghetti sauce as it simmered on the stove. I later learned that the unmarked jar was bay laurel.

Bay laurel (Laurus nobilis), also known as sweet bay, is a familiar herb to many, but a mystery to grow. I get asked a lot about how to grow it. Outdoors, it is a large, shrubby evergreen native to Mediterranean regions of the world. It is hardy outside to USDA zones 8 and above.
Many times, I have come across a bay tree growing in a garden, and the homeowner had no idea what it was. After an ID, they are usually surprised that is is that simple leaf used for flavoring.
Aside from what to do with it, bay does make a handsome evergreen shrub in the garden. It can get rangy but takes to slight trimming as needed. I say “slight” trimming because every cut will yield a burst of new growth. This is one of the reasons it is popular trimmed and shaped as a topiary, regular trimming keeps branches flush and full of new leaves.Indoors as a houseplant, bay makes a lovely little tree. It will appreciate light in a sunny window. It is slow-growing, so it won’t overwhelm a space. I usually take my small potted trees outdoors in the summer to use as centerpieces on the outdoor dining table. In the fall, I trim them to a tidy shape again and bring them back inside.

Flavor
The leaves have a spicy fragrance when crushed. Use fresh leaves for a sweeter taste. Dried leaves will be less pungent but will have a more pronounced camphor-like aroma. Bay leaves are typically used in pickling spices, soups, stews, roasting meats, and as a flavoring for vinegar. Because the leaf is very tough and does not disintegrate in cooking, it is one of the few herbs that can be added early in simmering and cooking. Use cut branches for flavoring smoked foods.Bouquet Garni
Make your own herb “garnish bouquet” – known in the culinary world as bouquet garni.
Popular in French cooking, these are tiny fresh herb bouquets tied with cooking twine and floated in simmering soups and stews, Sometimes the herbs are wrapped in cheesecloth and tied to makes them easy to remove from the pot (bouquet garni is removed before serving). In Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, her famous Boeuf Bourguignon recipe calls for an herb bouquet made of 4 sprigs parsley, two sprigs thyme, and one bay leaf.

A note of caution: Always remove whole bay leaves from a dish before serving; the leaves are hard to digest and can cause choking. Know your plants! Never confuse true Bay Laurel (Laurus nobilis) with California bay or other types of laurel, which can be toxic if eaten.

Healing
Bay can be a rich source of vitamins and a tea made from the leaves helps after a meal of heavy fats or foods to calm the stomach. The leaves have an enzyme that helps to breakdown complex proteins from meats and other foods, promoting faster digestion and soothing irritable stomach and bowels.

Bay Leaf Tea
8 ounces water
1 to 2 bay leaf
Bring water to a boil in a glass saucepan, add bay leaf and boil for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove pan from heat and allow the infusion of water and bay to steep for 5 minutes or longer until it begins to cool down. For added flavor add, lemon juice and raw honey to taste.

Pest Chaser
Another childhood memory. There was always dried bay leaf in the cornmeal and flour canisters in the kitchen cupboard. The leaves are a natural way to keep moths, ants, silverfish, and weevils away from dried products while they are in storage. Add a bay leaf to dry goods in an airtight container. Change the leaf every few months to keep them pungent and useful. You can also hang a small garland of leaves inside a pantry to help stay fresh and add overall natural pest deterrent.

1 cup baking soda
1/3 cup citric acid
10 drops peppermint oil
10 drops eucalyptus oil
About a ½ cup of a dried mix of lavender buds and mint leaves
Mix baking soda, citric acid, and dried herbs until well mixed.
Add oil drops and stir until all ingredients are well blended. Scatter drops of water across the dried mix, starting with 5 at a time Toss gently until the mixture begins to stick together. Press into molds to shape. You don’t want them sloppy wet, use just enough water to help bind the ingredients together. Allow the “bombs” to dry overnight. Store in a glass jar.

To use: toss one of the bombs on the shower floor or a shelf where water will hit it and begin to fizz and release the aroma into the steamy heat.

]]>https://herbloversgarden.com/2020/02/26/make-time-herb-fizzy/feed/0Shower Bombs with logocreativegardenerRefresh and Revive Minthttps://herbloversgarden.com/2020/02/26/refresh-and-revive-mint/
https://herbloversgarden.com/2020/02/26/refresh-and-revive-mint/#respondWed, 26 Feb 2020 14:07:21 +0000http://herbloversgarden.com/?p=1155More]]>Herbs are potted and tucked into all spaces of my garden, but jars of roots are such a simple act of gardening that makes me smile.

When spring is showing signs of life in your garden, mint is usually one of the first perennial herbs to get busy. Overcrowded mint in a container needs revival and spring is a good time to do it. You can divide it or take cuttings and water root them.

Easy water propagation! Snip leafy cuttings where the stem is soft and green, just above the woody parts of the plant. Trim off any leaves (you don’t want leaves under the water line) add your mint “bouquet” to a jar of fresh water and let nature do the rest. The jar will fill with a mass of strong roots. Then transfer the plant to a small pot with soil. Place them in a sunny window, keep well watered. Allow your newly minted plants to root well in the soil before putting them out in the garden.

I woke to a very chilly morning. Like most gardeners, I debate if I am ready for winter or want that basil plant in the garden to hang on just a little longer. Frost or not, there is a plant in my garden that never fails to capture my attention. It usually has hummingbirds dancing over it on a sunny morning and gives a nice dose of aromatherapy when I brush against it. Hello, rosemary!

What prompted me to write today is I am having some electrical work done outside the home. A worker needed to dig in an area where there was a big, woody, rosemary plant. I have always known it would need to be cut out of the way of utilities, but I waited as long as I could because it was so awesome. This morning, big loppers in hand, I gave it a haircut, well more than a haircut, it was pretty dramatic whack along the backside of it where it crowded the walls of my stucco house. I am sure it loved the heat off the stone house and probably the reason the base of the plant is so massive. As I was cutting the rosemary away, both of the workers commented on how wonderful it smelled. One asked what it was, because it was so familiar. As soon as I said it, he said he loved to use it on chicken. The other said he had a pot of it at his house. I smiled because this was not my usual gardening audience, but I loved hearing how a fragrance just draws a person back to a memory or a taste. Now piles of fresh-cut stems lay on the lawn, and the fragrance is heady and energizing.That’s the real enchantment of herbs, how all the gifts of aroma, flavor, and healing capture us!

Thoughts of rosemary for your day:

Rosemary is a “wake-up” herb because of its heavy, enchanting fragrance; the volatile essential oil on the fresh leaves in the peak of summer will linger on your hands after rubbing it.

The essence of rosemary in aromatherapy practice is well-known for its use to help chase away mental and physical weariness.

Brew rosemary infusion (bring 1 cup of water to a boil in a glass saucepan. Remove the pan from heat and add a handful of young tender springs or about ¼ cup of fresh rosemary leaves. Cover and allow to steep for 15 minutes. Remove and discard the leaves from the water by filtering through cheesecloth.)

In a small nonmetal bowl, add cornmeal, almond oil. Pour rosemary infusion over the cornmeal mix until it has the texture of a smooth paste. Add fresh rosemary leaves and essential oi. Stir until well mixed. Massage rosemary scrub onto feet with a gentle circular motion. The abrasiveness of the cornmeal on rough skin around the heels and ball of the foot to help soften and remove dead skin cells.

Take your time and enjoy the benefits of the massage as the rosemary starts its healing process. Rinse feet well.

]]>https://herbloversgarden.com/2019/10/09/captured-by-rosemary/feed/1rosemary blog post (1)creativegardenerrosemary blog post flowers (1).jpgMake these easy Herb Drying Screens!https://herbloversgarden.com/2019/08/16/make-these-easy-herb-drying-screens/
https://herbloversgarden.com/2019/08/16/make-these-easy-herb-drying-screens/#commentsSat, 17 Aug 2019 00:30:36 +0000http://herbloversgarden.com/?p=1131More]]>Pick, pick, pick…are you harvesting your herbs? As summer gives us it’s late summer heat, it seems like every day there is an herb to pick and preserve. Make a stack of these easy DIY drying screens for your bountiful harvest. These are perfect for drying delicate flower heads like Chamomile and Calendula or leafy herbs that are hard to bundle and hang like basil.

I have a stash of these I made years ago and use them in all seasons of harvest.